Vividh Bharati service to be available on Internet

Number of listeners has gone up considerably, says AIR Director General

The Vividh Bharati service of All India Radio will now be available on Internet soon. The radio channel, which presents a mix of music, skits, short plays and interactive programmes, can be accessed round the clock. This is in addition to the Urdu service and FM Gold which is already offered on the net.

According to R. Venkateshwarlu, Director General, AIR, radio is back in the reckoning. There is 30 per cent rise in the number of listeners as compared to the previous year. The new listeners are mostly outdoor ones, such as those using car radio and the radio facility in their mobiles.

Consequently, the revenue of AIR is also on the rise. So far it has netted Rs. 307 crore against Rs. 376 crore last year. “We expect the revenue to touch Rs. 440 crore, an increase of 80 per cent,” Mr. Venkateshwarlu said.

In the third phase of FM radio stations, the government proposed to sanction additional 839 stations in the private sector. Currently, the AIR has 407 stations and 587 broadcasting centres while the number of radio stations in the private sector is 242. The AIR station at Vijayawada is in the process of being upgraded from 1 KW to 10 KW power.

 

 

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